Pennsylvania man pleads guilty in Rehoboth carjacking

A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty in a carjacking case in 2015 in Rehoboth.

Tristan Messenger, then 17, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to charges of carjacking in the first degree and robbery in the second degree in the 2015 case, when he stole a man's Toyota Prius from a Starbucks on Rehoboth Avenue, armed with what police said appeared to be a handgun.

Carl Kanefsky, public information officer for the Delaware Attorney General's office, stated that a further search found this not to be the case.

"Upon searching of the vehicle, police found a starter pistol," Kanefsky said.

Kanefsky also stated that Messenger's co-defendant, Qadir Gardner, 18, plead guilty in May to carjacking in the first degree, robbery in the second degree and conspiracy in the second degree. Gardner was sentenced in July to three years in prison and successful completion of the KEY and Crest programs and three years of probation.

KEY and Crest are addiction treatments used in the Delaware Department of Corrections, KEY being prison oriented, while Crest is for lower-level offenders and those on probation.

While Kanefsky said no drugs were found during the incident, he noted that inmates are often placed into these programs in order to ensure they don't violate probation by using drugs.

Messenger, now 18, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, followed by completion of the Crest Program, then three years of level three probation. Messenger was also ordered to pay restitution, to undergo mental health and substance abuse evaluation.

A third man, Shaolin Hoff, 18 of Pottstown, was initially suspected of involvement in the incident, but later cleared of all charges in 2015.